In Canada, lettuce grows on heat generated by bitcoin mining. In his software company annex fish and vegetable nursery, entrepreneur Bruce Hardy produces food in a semi-closed cycle. In doing so, he reuses the heat that the energy-absorbing blockchain technology delivers.
Sustainable agriculture heats through bitcoin mining
Bitcoin mining costs a lot of energy, because computers need a lot of computing power. Put simply, mining ensures that the cryptocurrency can be traded decentrally in a safe manner. Blockchain, the technological infrastructure behind Bitcoin, is increasingly being used because of its decentralized, transparent and safe character.
The American bank Morgan Stanley estimates that the power consumption of bitcoin mining in 2018 will be 120 to 140 terawatt hours, Bright wrote earlier. By way of comparison: according to Statistics Netherlands, electricity consumption in the Netherlands has just dropped slightly below 120 terawatt hours in recent years. This means that bitcoin miners consume as much energy as the Netherlands uses in a year. Now bitcoin mining mainly generates money for the miners themselves and the financial market.
Blockchain also offers opportunities in terms of sustainability, but the energy consumption that validates the data can be a stumbling block. In a pilot study by Wageningen University & Research and TNO (Netherlands), the negative climate impact of mining is mentioned as a downside for the application of blockchain technology in the agrifood sector.
Aquaponics is a system in which the waste that is produced by fish is converted by bacteria into nutrients for crops. The plants absorb these nutrients and filter the waste from the water. The clean water goes back to the fish, which reuse it. This keeps the circle in the semi-closed system. This ultimately yields two products for food consumption: vegetables and fish.
The concept has been around for some time. For example, farmers in countries such as China, Thailand and Indonesia have been growing fish in rice fields for a long time. But by adding technology to the already old aquaponics technology, a new, innovative system is created with opportunities for large-scale production. The infographic below shows how it works.
By: Rianne Lachmeijer
https://www.whatsorb.com/solution/community/society